


Rhett and Link's Buddy System ~ Season 3

by DarkMythicality (ClaxiaUramaki)



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Buddy System AU, Cute scenes, Fluff, Just my version of season 3, M/M, No Kids AU, angst maybe?, heart eyes all the way, link is oblivious, no wives au, rhett is so in love with him but he hasn't realized that yet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-09-18 16:08:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16998216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClaxiaUramaki/pseuds/DarkMythicality
Summary: Rhett knows there are multiple universes- and this is one of them. In this universe, Rhett and Link own Good Mythical Morning- however, it isn't exactly family friendly, but more adult orientated and they can finally be themselves and curse all they want... without going too far, of course. They feed the Rhink fandom from time to time and have no shame about it even if they consider themselves straight, but... are they really? Rhett knows he isn't but he hasn't told anyone. Not even Link.





	1. Heart-Eyes McLaughlin

There was something about his best friend. Rhett didn't quite understand what was it, but whenever Link was doing something else or simply talking to someone, the tall man couldn't help but stare at his best friend in silence, apreciating every feature of his face. Rhett would smile, his eyes somewhat closed. In the internet, fans would calle it 'heart eyes' and it was actually... pretty common. And Rhett knew this definition but... most of the times he couldn't help but look at his dear friend like this.

Together for three decates, working together. Sometimes he would really feel like it was a dream for real and he would ask Link to pinch his arm, giving no explanation. The dark-haired would do so, and expecting the tall man to flinch or something- he would just smile and laugh out loud, atracting all the attention! Of course, Link would ask what was up with him, only to have Rhett saying:

“Nothing man, I'm just happy”

As usual, Link would roll his eyes and go back to whatever he was doing at the moment and Rhet was left sitting there. Proud of himself, proud of Link. Proud of them. However, the tall man hated something about himself. It was the fact of how he didn't gather enough courage to propose... or at least confess his love to Link. 

It was something that kept him away during some nights. Lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, fingers tangled over his chest, imagining and thinking about all the possibilities and probabilities... he didn't want Link to react in a bad way. He didn't want to scare him off. Should he be straight about it? Be subtle? Should he prepare something private or casually say it in front of the team?

Sometimes he would think so much hours would pass and then he was left with just 4 hours of sleep. Of course, Link would notice, but Rhett would just pull an excuse. Whatever excuse worked because Link had no reason to doubt him- neither thought Rhett had a reason to lie to him. They were best friends, they told each other everything sooner or later. 

“Rhett, snap out of it. What do you think of this?” Link snapped his fingers in front of his friend's face, soon after showing the screen of his phone. 

Rhett opened his eyes wide, blinking a few times as he was called back to earth. He was so zoned out he didn't hear anything about what Link was saying and eyed at the picture. Right. A thumbnail for their next video. Rhett raised his eyebrow and shrugged lightly, shaking his head. “It's a thumbnail” He simply responded.

“Well no shit, but do you think it's too exagerated?” Link seemed to be serious about this so Rhett refrained for joking.

“Maybe a little bit. But we've had worse. This will do” 

Link nodded and pulled away from his friend, texting on his phone. The tall man leaned back against his office chair, staring into the ceiling. He was honestly tired after shooting some episodes of GMM, good thing they were about to shoot their last one, another 'Would You Rather'. Considering how disgusting the last one was, Stevie decided to go somewhat easy on this one and avoid disgusting things, like tuna bodyshots and moth milkshakes. Rhett and Link knew they were going to do one, but not of the options Stevie put up for people to vote. Probably they would get mad at her for using those certain options, so she really hoped they would be cool with them... 

“We should start getting back to set” Rhett suggested to his friend, who was swinging himself with the spinning chair. 

“Yeah” The dark-haired nodded and put his phone back in his pocket, standing up and heading back to their desk. Rhett got up as well but he didn't immediately followed- instead he just stood there staring at his friend's back until it disappeared through the door. 

He was so happy to be working with him. Despite eating nasty food, despite doing stupid challenges- he was happy to be doing this with Link and making so many people happy at the same time. It felt... magical. Rhett took a deep breath, smiling widely as he was lost in his thoughts, going after his friend. 

Stevie and the rest of the crew was just hanging out behind cameras. Link had just sat down when Rhett arrived to the set, and he looked up at him with a smile. A smile that was contagious. Rhett smiled back at him and sat next to him, on his usual spot. On the screen in front of them, the tall man fixed his own hair, finding it a bit messy. And while doing it, he eyed Link, who was simply cleaning his glasses with his miniature horse shirt. For some reason he couldn't keep his eyes off the dark haired. He had done this a lot of times, so many times there was even a compilation of 'Rhett staring at Link' on tumblr and Youtube- but this time was different. Link felt the stare and he had to bring it up.

“Watchu doing staring at me so much? You look like a creep” Said Link with a soft laugh, checking how clean the glasses were before putting them back on and running his fingers through the white stripe on his hair.

And Rhett was caught off guard. He didn't jump or seem surprised as that would make him look suspicious, so he came up with an excuse. “I think there's dust on your shoulder” He said. Not the best excuse, but it was good enough for Link to fall for it. 

The man looked over at his own shoulder, not really seeing any dust or white spot on it. “What are you talking about? I see nothing here man” He said, and even if he said he didn't see anything, he still rubbed his hand on it, trying to wipe off the non-existent dust.

Rhett laughed and turned to look at Link, giving him a wink. “It was just a prank, bro” He said, laughing some more. Link rolled his eyes and laid his arms over the desk, taking his cup and taking a sip from it. Stevie caught their attention by calling their name and telling them to get ready. Link already knew his intro line, so he simply positioned himself, making eye contact with the camera. Rhett simply laid one arm on the desk, the other one on his waist. Upon pressing record, Stevie gave them a signal.

“Would you rather kiss your best friend for 14 second or suck their toe for 7?”

“Let's talk about that”


	2. Bail Out

“Listen- as much as I would love my best friend- which is you, by the way, Rhett--”

Rhett started to laugh as Link went on a tangent, trying to figure out what the people voted the most. He had a feeling they would vote to suck their best friend's toe but... that was disgusting!

“I don't think I would be able to kiss you for 14 whole seconds!” Link ran his fingers through his hair, staring at the screen, thoughtful. “However, sucking your toe... that's just... ughgughguh!!” The man shook in his seat, his hair bouncy and making the crew laugh. “Thinking about just... makes me want to dry heave”

Rhett snickered giving a glance at the crew. He had no problem having his toe sucked of course, although... it was going to be very weird. Not only that but- god, the gifs. He had already seen some not-safe-for-work gifs of the time Link took that bodyshot off his bellybutton and the man was left disturbed. 

There was a moment of silence and the tall man observed how hard Link was thinking, groaning and rubbing his forehead from time to time, biting his lower lip. “The thing is... the kissing one is a lose-lose situation... my lips would be touching yours and vice-versa... and with the toe sucking one of us would just do it... gosh” Link sighed, forgetting for a second that this wasn't about him or them, but abouut what the fans preferred. “Alright, I don't know... I'm going to go with... sucking your best friend's toe for 7 seconds” He said with a sigh. “Mostly because the shorter the better, and at least you can wash your mouth afterwards- the trauma of kissing your best friend for that long doesn't go away that quick”

The crew laughed again as the dark-haired gave one of his 'I'm so done right now' look at the camera, even if they got started and they had a long way to go still. On the other hand, Rhett was nervous. He had been nervous all this time, but even more nervous knowing that Link was right. 

“Well maybe that's what the Mythical Beasts thought because you are... correct Link!!” Rhett cheered raising his arms with a big smile, trying his best to hide the fact that his hands and knees were shaking violently.

“Oh gosh” Link looked down muttering, taking his glasses off to rub his eyes. The man was aware that he was going to get traumatized, just like that one time years ago with the plexiglass. He was not ready for this. “I don't know how can you be happy about this, man!” Complained Link, putting his glasses back on and turning to look at his friend. 

Rhett realized that he probably should have reacted in a different way. No one knew he had a thing for Link except for some fans or even friends who were good at figuring stuff out. “Listen, I'm just as happy as you are right now. The good thing is that you don't need to reciprocate or do anything at all” He mentioned, turning to face his best friend. He could feel his chest pounding, and if someone had a good eye (or a really good HD monitor), they would see how the shirt twitched after every beat.

Link groaned and dropped his head. He was stalling on purpose, as if trying to avoid the innevitable. So he tried to think of the good things about doing this. It would generate clicks. The episode would do great, the outcome would be fantastic. Heck, it would make a great thumbnail too, which would generate even more clicks and views. The perfect clickbait. It was just going to be 14 seconds and like Rhett said, he didn't need to respond to it. And he wasn't going to. No. No way. “Alright...” He took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders, trying to calm himself and ignoring the crew's snickering behind the cameras. 

The man licked his lips, not realizing Rhett was staring at him. He forgot to put lip balm on them and they were quite dry. The taller one couldn't help but raise his eyebrow and feel a little nervous after that gesture. “A little tongue action there” He said jokingly with a small chuckle. Link threw a small frown at his friend, looking a little offended even if he wasn't really.

“I forgot to put lip balm before we started, shut up!” He said, swaying his arms around as he moved his chair closer to Rhett's while the other was laughing. 

“I mean nothing stops you from using--” Rhett reached into Link's jean's pocket, Link jumping a little in reply with a 'dude!' and taking out the lip balm, showing it to the camera with a smirk. “-- _Link's Peculiarly Perfect Peanut Butter Peppermint Lip Balm_ ” He finished, winking while the crew laughed, probably at the way of how Rhett was shamelessly promoting their merch or maybe how done Link looked already. He snatched the lip balm from Rhett's hands and opened it.

“Who's the one stalling now?” Link said as he applied the balm on his lips. Rhett simply shrugged with a smile, keeping eye contact with his friend, which made Link feel a little embarrassed. “Alright, come on, let's just do it” He said, throwing the bar onto the table and dropping his arms over his knees, closing his eyes.

Rhett pursed his lips, staring at the other in silence. Okay, no way back now. The tall one took a deep breath as well as he leaned over the other, realizing for the millionth time how big he was in comparison. Rhett felt the need to be delicate and gentle. He started by placing both of his hands on Link's cheeks, gently cupping them. He noticed his friend squeezing his eyes shut. 

“I'm not going to hurt you” He whispered. For a second he thought that saying that was pointless because Link's face didn't seem to change, however- it loosened up little by little. “Thank you for trusting me” He whispered again with a smile. For some reason, Link couldn't help but feel even more embarrassed and his face turned red. The camera could easily pick that up. There was something about Rhett's gentleness... there was something about it that made his heart beat faster and... hard. 

Without stalling more, Rhett finally leaned in and his lips met Link's. The studio was in complete silence- except for Link's hard exhale through his nose- but aside that, no one was saying anything. It was almost unnerving but he didn't give up. Taking into account that this was supposed to be a kiss... the tall proceeded to do so. Even if the dark-haired had his lips pressed together, Rhett moved them, his eyes stuck on his friend's. What he didn't take into account is that, eventually, Link would open them.

And it happened. Link opened them and his eyes met Rhett's. For a second, he felt like the world stopped. No... it wasn't just a second. This felt _eternal_. He shouldn't have opened his eyes. This was a mistake, a big mistake. Link started to panic and he couldn't take it. With shaky hands, the pushed Rhett away with force and got up from the chair so quickly it fell down. 

Rhett grunted as he was pushed and he stared at his friend. “Link” He tried to call out, seeing that Link was definitely **not okay**. “Link!” He called out again. Link blinked a few times and he took a step back. And then another one, and then another one. Before Rhett could call out to him again, his friend was long gone, bursting the door open. Rhett stood up, speechless. Was the kiss really that bad? No, he shouldn't be asking that. Was this even a good idea to begin with? He was fine with it. Link was fine with it... or looked like it... did he judged wrong? He pursed his lips and motioned Stevie to cut, wasting no time to go after his best friend. 

Stevie couldn't do anything else besides scratch this episode and go with a different one... if Link could recover from that, of course. The girl hoped he would, thinking as well that... this first option was probably not a very good idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The angst and drama started too soon, whoops.


	3. Caught?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oopsie

“Link, come on, wait up” Rhett managed to hold the door before it closed, seeing his best friend open the door to his minivan. He seemed to not listen at all, which made the tall one frown in worry, pursing his lips and rushing towards Link before he got into the car. He grabbed his arm, keys in hand and avoiding eye contact.

“You can't leave, we still have work to do,” He said gently to his friend. Link said nothing... but in fact, he was trying to. His lips were apart, trying to speak out. In all honesty, the dark-haired didn't know what to say. “Come on... We did this already, years ag--”

Cutting Rhett, Link shot a glare at his friend. “Yeah, through _a fucking plexiglass_ ” He cursed in accident, realizing what he just said and did and looked down in shame. Rhett looked down as well. They didn't often curse, they didn't make a habit out of it because they both thought cursing all the time was ugly, so hearing Link curse was somewhat shocking. 

Rhett was left speechless and Link felt bad for snapping at his best friend. He took a deep breath as he felt Rhett let go of his arm. “... I'm sorry, I just... I need to go. I don't feel good right now” He muttered, entering his car before the tall one could say anything. He watched Link start the car through the window, still making no eye contact at all which made him feel bad as well. And before he knew it, Link was gone. 

Rhett was left there all alone, but that wasn't for long. Stevie came and walked up to him, seeing no trace of Link's car after looking around a little. “I didn't think it would go that bad,” She said, adjusting her hat so the sun wouldn't blind her. 

“Me either” Rhett shrugged and let out a long sigh, walking up to a wall and leaning against it, his gaze aimless. Stevie followed him and she shrugged as well, tucking her hands into her jean pockets.

“I will give him a call later and apologize properly. I should at least warned you guys that it was going to get a little... _intimate_ ”

“Yeah well- that's the fun thing about doing the show. You guys don't tell us anything so our reactions can be more genuine and people appreciate that these days.” Rhett sighed and dropped his head. “And I will say... Link's reaction was _very_ genuine.”

Stevie bit her lip, not knowing what else to say about Link's situation. “... I'm glad you didn't react as bad, though” She smiled a little, trying to lighten the mood. “Then I would really feel like shit, hahaha”

Rhett snorted a little and tilted his head. “Well, first of all, I don't find it difficult to kiss someone else. I don't think about it too much and I just go with it, honestly” 

“You... did seem pretty nervous before kissing him, though. I could see your hands shaking from where I was sitting” Stevie raised an eyebrow.

“Come on!” Rhett laughed awkwardly. “I was just... worried about Link, that's all. When we kissed that one time years ago through the plexiglass he was left in shock for at least 10 minutes straight” He snickered then, recalling that moment like it was yesterday. “His face was... priceless”

Stevie narrowed her eyes, raising her eyebrow even more- clearly looking suspicious. Rhett was talking like he was in love with Link but... she wasn't exactly sure. She shipped them of course, she was probably the #1 fan of the Rhink fandom (and she was, claiming to be it multiple times in tumblr- but not using any name that referenced working with Rhett and Link or her personal life) and oh how much she wished for these two to be together! But this was real life. Things like that were very unusual and 90% of the time impossible. 

“I know. I was there.” She simply replied. “But he quickly recovered from that because you guys didn't kiss for real. Is he going to recover from this at all?” 

Rhett raised his eyebrow and shrugged lightly. “I mean... I hope he does. It was just a meaningless kiss- well, it had a meaning, for show purposes. But that's it. I honestly don't know why he reacted like that” He muttered.

Stevie shrugged as well and shook her head as if saying 'I have no idea'. Both of them went quiet for a few seconds, thinking, trying to figure out how to deal with this... well. How would Rhett deal with this since he was the one pressing his lips against Link's. Stevie was only at fault for her thirst and the least she could do was recreate the 'Would You Rather' idea with new options or go with a completely different one. Maybe a Taste Test or a Will it, although they needed more material for the latter one... 

Rhett sighed and pulled his back off the wall, taking his car keys out of his pocket. “I'm just gonna go get him and have a talk. I have to apologize properly” He said as he made his way to his car. “I'll keep you updated Stevie” 

“Sure” The girl nodded and waved at the tall man, going back inside the building and finding Chase, Jordan, and Jen muttering to each other about the recent events.

“Link looked like he had seen a ghost or something” Jen mentioned, her eyes wide open. 

“And he almost looked like one because he became pale as hell” Added Jordan, making Chase snicker a little bit. 

Stevie approached the group. “Rhett left as well, he's gonna go get Link” Getting the group's attention, she added as well. “But I don't even know when they'll get back”

“If they get back at all” Chase looked a little disappointed saying this, his eyes on the ground.

“They have to, we still have to shoot the final episode for today” Stevie crossed her arms.

“But Link looked very... out of this world after that” Jen looked over at Stevie. “Even if he gets back would he even be able to pretend nothing happened?” 

“He probably would” Jordan nodded. “There have been times where bad stuff happened and they were able to make it through the episodes pretending everything was okay.”

Chase raised his eyebrows and nodded a few times. “I'm sure everything is going to be okay”

Stevie and Jen didn't seem to quite agree with Jordan as Chase did. The girls didn't say anything, however, they didn't need to, their faces said it all. Jordan noticed the tension building up between them- it never felt good when they disagreed, so he decided to do something about it. Patting Jen's back once, he smiled widely. “Well, we can't do anything about it now, so let's just go get something to eat in the meantime”

The other three nodded. “I feel like eating junk food or something... fried chicken or nuggets” Jen muttered as the group followed Jordan back outside.

 

While the group went to get some fast food goodies, Rhett found himself inside his car, sitting on the front seat, all alone. Random songs from his iPod were playing, him listening to them while thinking about what happened just a few minutes ago. It hadn't even been an hour yet... 

The man let out a long sigh, starting up his car. Part of him wanted to rush, but he also thought there was no rush. Link probably went home, there was no need to rush. His head was a complete mess right now. He had to lie to Stevie and he felt bad for that but... even if she was one to trust, as much as he liked her, Stevie wasn't going to be the first one to know about Rhett's true feelings- that just didn't seem fair at all. Maybe today was the day where he dropped everything on Link. Or not. Probably not. Wouldn't want to shock the poor guy more than he already was. 

_Shit. God knows how he feels right now. He probably doesn't even want to see me_ , Rhett thought as he hesitated to press his foot down to back up the car. But even if Link didn't want to, this was something that needed to be talked about, it shouldn't be ignored. It was going to be fine. If today wasn't the day, maybe a small lie/excuse would work just to make Link feel better. But who knows if that was going to work...

'Bad Ideas' started to play on his iPod as he drove away. It was a song sung by his friend Tessa Violet, or... _Meekakitty_. To refresh your memory, it's the same orange-haired girl from _Beat the Heat_ and _The Break-up Song_. Rhett loved so much her new song that he couldn't resist tweeting about it. The beat was nice, the lyrics were cute and funny. But as he drove to Link's house and paid attention to the lyrics, he could feel his stomach sink. Feeling a nut in his throat, the tall man couldn't resist singing the lyrics quietly. 

_I just wanna kiss you, and even if I miss you, at least I'll know what it's like to have held your hand._  
_Bad ideas. I know where they lead. But I got too many to sleep and I can't get enough, no._  
_I wanna kiss you standing up._

Rhett frowned and he gripped the wheel. _God_. He loved Link so much and this damn song continued to remind him as it played. He shouldn't have kept it as a secret, they were best friends, for Christ's Sake! Best friends shared everything! He bet Link wouldn't even have judged him or... well. Maybe. He couldn't know for sure. Link was accepting but how much? _Ugh_. Thinking about this frustrated him. He needed to calm himself down. He skipped the song (since this one wasn't helping at all) and instead, another song from Tessa started to play. 'Crush'. Rhett looked offended at his iPod for a second, thinking that it was conspiring against him or something. He narrowed his eyes on the road as the song played.

_I fill my calendar with stuff I can do,_  
_maybe if I'm busy it could keep me from you and I'm pretending you ain't been on my mind,_  
_but I took an interest in the things that you like and I'm just trying to play it cool now_  
_but that's not what I want to do now and I'm not trying to be with you now._

Rhett let out a loud and annoyed grunt, pressing skip once again. But as soon as the melody and lyrics from _'Song For When You Want To Say 'I Love You' But You Can't'_ started to play, “GOD, what the actual **fuck** ” he didn't waste time to smash the off button from his iPod. He groaned under his breath, gripping the wheel so hard his knuckles turned white. 

The whole trip to Link's house was silent. His frown faded over time and felt more calmed now, appreciating not having to listen to cheesy and romantic lyrics and just enjoying the silence. However... once his friend's house was in sight, Rhett tensed up a little. He parked his car next to Link's and look through the front window.

He couldn't see the inside of his house- the curtains were drawn. They were like that when Link wasn't at home so for a moment he thought if he was even inside. For a moment he thought of giving a turn and go back home. But he was here now and trying didn't hurt. He got out of his car, took a deep breath and walked up to his friend's door, ringing the bell a few times. 

Seconds felt like minutes and he kinda spaced out, deep into his thoughts, wondering what he should say. He had come here with nothing in mind which was probably a bad idea. It caught him by surprise when the door opened, jumping a little. His heart started to race seeing Link standing there, holding the door open. The man looked somewhat troubled, his lips were dry and apart and he was staring at Rhett, saying nothing.

Rhett swallowed and awkwardly waved at him. “Hey” 

Link gave him a small nod. “Hey... I didn't expect you” he muttered quietly. But he was lying. He perfectly knew Rhett would have come after him, he always did. 

“Can I come in?” Rhett asked gently, catching the lie but saying nothing about it. Link only looked down without replying and the tall man insisted. “... We should talk, Link”

Link narrowed his eyes. Exhaling through his nose, he nodded in the end, stepping aside and inviting Rhett in. Knowing they had to talk the dark-haired lead the other to the living room. There was tea served on the coffee table and a teapot next to it. There was also a big bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats and the box laid down, to which made Rhett chuckle upon seeing it.

“Cereal and tea? That's a weird combination man” He commented, noticing that the tv was on as well, but paused. 

“The tea was to calm myself down, and the cereal to make me happy” Replied Link, sitting back on the couch and devouring a big spoon of cereal while he continued playing the series he was watching. 

Rhett sat down next to him and eyed at the screen. “BoJack Horseman, huh?” He looked at his friend, raising his eyebrow with a smile.

“Yup” He devoured another big spoon, and talked while munching. “You kept mentioning it so I decided to give it a try”

“It's a good show” Rhett returned his eyes to the screen. Oh god. It was the episode where Sarah Lynn... was Link even prepared for that? He was an emotional guy. He shook his head. I'm not here to watch BoJack with him, he reminded himself, grabbing the remote and pausing the episode. 

Link made an annoyed sound, looking at Rhett a little offended. “Dude” 

“We need to talk Link” He insisted, staring into his friend's eyes. Link averted his eyes, grabbing the bowl and hugging it, his back against the couch as he ate. Rhett sighed and took the bowl from him, putting it away.

“Come on!!” He complained. 

“I'm being serious, why can't you cooperate for a moment? The Mini Wheats aren't going anywhere.” Link sighed and rubbed his stubbled beard, silent. “I want to talk because I care about you, Link. You looked like you were about to faint and you left so suddenly... when it was just a simple kiss”

“Thing is, it wasn't just a simple kiss” Link muttered.

Rhett made a face, leaning forwards, wanting to understand. “Tell me what you mean”

Link pursed his lips, his fingers over them now. “It felt... too gentle”

The taller man tensed up a little and laughed awkwardly. “What, you wanted me to eat your whole face or somethin'?” 

“I'm not saying that” Link shook his head. “I'm saying that even before kissing me, you talked to me in... the sweetest tone I ever heard.”

Rhett didn't know how to respond to that, so he babbled a little, rubbing his own thighs. “Well I... you know... you looked very nervous so I thought...”

Link looked at his friend now.

“I felt _love_ in your kiss, Rhett”

Rhett swallowed. He felt like his heart skipped a beat and his heart was racing, suddenly. The palms of his hands started to sweat a little, speechless. Link was obviously awaiting a reply, but he didn't know what to say. 

For the first time in his life, he was terrified.


	4. Fighting Urges

“I mean, I do love you, you're my best friend after all, Link” Rhett tried his best to avoid Link finding out the truth. He wasn't ready. He really wasn't. He wasn't ready for him to find out yet, he needed more time. “I just saw you were very nervous and I just... I thought I'd be gentle, that's all”

Link kept staring at his best friend. There was something off about his voice and he narrowed his eyes, thinking. “Really?”

“Of course” Rhett nodded a few times. “After this is our first kiss and I wasn't going to ruin it”

“Why do you care about that?”

The blonde was caught off guard. He swallowed nervously, thinking of a pathetic reason. Anything. _Anything_. “I-I meant that uh, I just thought... you know... if I ruined out first kiss, I had the feeling you would react, like... worse than you did.” He ended up saying.

Link frowned a little and took a deep breath. “I don't know why that matters to you, but I guess I appreciate the thought?” He shrugged and took the bowl of cereal from Rhett. 

The blonde was relieved. He had avoided Link finding out. Victory! “So we're good? You're not mad at me or anything?” He asked, hopeful. But Link stood quiet, which didn't make him feel very good. He saw the dark-haired cuddle the bowl of cereal.

“... We're good. I'm not mad” Link lied and it was obvious.

Rhett swallowed again, catching Link's lie. He wasn't even making eye contact anymore and he grew very anxious. He fucked up things, didn't he. He screwed everything up, Link was mad, they weren't good. He figured out and now their friendship was going to go downhill, after all these decades. Rhett hated himself right now.

“You can be honest with me, Link...” Rhett whispered, which was quite hypocrite of him to say this. But Link didn't say anything.

The blonde let out a long sigh, looking down and rubbing his own thighs. What now? What could he possibly do now to make things better? If he could even do that... he had no idea. But he really didn't want to lose Link. They spent almost their entire lives together. And even if Link found out, it would be okay, wouldn't it? Maybe. Maybe things would be awkward between them. Maybe Link would question every close move or caress Rhett would give him. Maybe he would be distant towards Rhett because he didn't share the same feeling. 

Link didn't want to feel awkward around Rhettt so he considered believing his words. Maybe it was true he just really was looking out to him and making sure that the 'Would You Rather' wasn't so traumatic. He closed his eyes and sighed, rubbing his eyes under his glasses. Rhett raised his sight looking at his friend, watching him. 

“I guess I just need... a break or something.” He finally said. “How would you feel if your best friend, who happened to be of the same sex, kissed you?” He asked with an awkward laugh.

But that was a stupid question. Rhett would feel incredible. If Link kissed him? Holy fuck. It would be the best day of his entire life. He would feel like the happiest man in the whole world, but of course... he couldn't say that. He needed to come up with a reason. “I guess shocked as well, yeah” He chuckled through his nose, smiling then. “So... are we... good? You're not mad?” He decided to ask again.

Link shook his head. “I'm not mad, just... I'd say traumatized, but that's not the correct word” He said with a small smile. “I'll be fine. I just need to take a break. That panic attack has left me exhausted”

“Do you need anything? Like, help with... something? Food? You can't be eating cereal the whole day” Rhett said, eyeing the Mini Wheats. Link grumbled and kept them close to him as if he thought the other would take them away from him again.

“I technically can, but I can make myself food if I want something else” He mumbled, taking a spoon full of cereal and devouring it. He sighed happily, enjoying his 'meal'. 

Meanwhile Rhett sighed and rolled his eyes with a small laugh. “Alright, whatever you say” He stood up, thinking about leaving already. Honestly he was still worried about Link, he looked rather pale and his hands were shaky. Every time he had a panic attack he would turn out like this and feel weak for a couple hours... was it safe to leave him alone?

“You should believe me more often, man” Link placed the bowl of cereal on the table and stood up as well, but he wobbled, about to fall. Luckily Rhett caught him on time, holding him by the arms, firmly. He stared at his friend.

“... I was going to, if you didn't almost fall” Rhett held Link in place, staring down at him. “I know you, you get very weak after a panic attack. I should stay with you until you get better.”

Link quickly shook his head, trying to squirm away from Rhett's grip. “Really dude, I'll be fine, I'll just lay down” He managed to move away and he attempted to go around the couch, but as soon as he took two steps he lost balance and held himself on the couch, squeezing his eyes shut. “Crap...”

Rhett looked very worried and approached his friend, holding him. “Okay, I'm just... gonna take you to your room.” 

“I can walk by myse--” Tried to say Link, but the blonde swept him off his feet, carrying him bridal style. “Hey! Put me down!” He complained, frowing at Rhett. But the blonde shook his head in reply, walking to Link's room with a smile.

Link was surprisingly very light and he looked so small in his arms like that. There was something about carrying him like this... Rhett couldn't place it but he  _loved_ it. He had the urge to cuddle his crush, nuzzle his face in the crook between his neck and shoulder, smell his scent. He had the urge to have him very close to him but... he obviously couldn't do that. He didn't want to lose Link so he had to hold his urges, keep them at bay. 

He walked into the dark-haired's room, placing him onto the bed. Link didn't look amused at all and he crossed his arms. “You could at least thank me.” Said Rhett.

“Thank you for what? I could have walked by myself” Grumbled Link, laying on his side. Rhett rolled his eyes and shook his head, sitting on the ground next to him. 

“After seeing you almost fall twice? I wasn't going to take that risk, man” He smiled at the other, who was still glaring. But Link couldn't stay angry at him. It wasn't fair, Rhett only wanted to help. So he just sighed and shrugged lightly.

“... Thanks” He muttered.

“No problem, man” 

Link looked away, curling up a little. He felt exhausted and his body heavy, but he wasn't sure if he was going to fall asleep. Both of them stood quiet for a while. Everything felt a little awkward now. For some reason Rhett wasn't leaving yet. “... I thought you were going to leave?” 

Rhett shrugged. “I thought so as well until I saw you almost fall over two times in a row. I'd rather stay and make sure you're okay. I don't want you to call me hours later telling me you cut your own hand trying to make yourself food” 

“You're being too exagerated” Link huffed at his friend. “I'm well aware my body doesn't really cooperate after a panic attack. I'm not stupid, you know” 

“Is it really that bad that I want to stay to take care of you?” Rhett crossed his arms on Link's bed. “Come on. Is it really?”

Link stared back at the blonde and pursed his lips. Then, shook his head. “No, it's not.” He sighed and rubbed his eyes as he laid on his back. “Sorry... I'm acting like a jerk”

“Don't worry about it” Rhett patted Link's shoulder after fighting the urge to pat his head instead. “I know you don't mean it, so I'm not annoyed or anything. You do you, man”

Link smiled a little, grateful for the fact that his best friend was so understanding. He appreciated that a lot. Rhett was just the best. He was so lucky to be having such an amazing person as his friend. He smiled some more, feeling a little giddy.

And they just stood there, silent, simply enjoying each other's presence. Link was staring at the ceiling, starting to doze off. Rhett was looking at him, resting his chin over his crossed arms. No, he wasn't looking... he was more like... contemplating him. Appreciating his features. He noticed a few more gray hairs on the shorter side of his hair, but no wrinkles at all. Link still had a very smooth and perfect skin. If someone came up to him without having no idea of who he was or how old he was, they would immediately think he was al least in his late 20's or early 30's. Link was just...  _so perfect_ . The blonde swallowed, his mind going places. 

He imagined himself holding the other close, protective. His face buried in his fluffy hair, his arms around his shoulders. He imagined himself kissing the top of his head, whispering encouragin and sweet words into his ear. Caressing his smooth arms, just squeezing him as if he was a plushie.  _Ugh_ . Rhett wished he could do all that. He loved Link so freaking much. But he had to contain himself... he had to push his urges away for the sake of their friendship. Rhett wished to at least be able to share his feelings but he treasued his friendship too much. He wasn't going to risk it. 

Eventually, Link fell asleep. Rhett knew because the guy had his mouth open. That was a clear sign, and he chuckled seeing this. He took the opportunity to move closer, quietly. Link was just so... pretty. He contemplated his face up close, loving every feature. From his expressive eyebrows to his nose, to his lips. Even his glasses were great. He thought about kissing his cheek but he supposed Link would wake up upon feeling his gritty beard. So he just thought about caressing his hair, maybe run his fingers through it. And so he did. 

Rhett smiled widely. Link's hair was perfect as well, oh gosh. So soft, so... just so magnificent. He caressed it softly, using his thumb as well. But this enjoyment didn't last for long. The dark-haired opened his eyes and Rhett quickly moved his hand away. Link looked at him, drowsy.

“What are you doing...?” He muttered, dragging his words.

The blonde looked a little nervous, blushing slightly. “Uh, nothing. You had a fluff in your hair, I removed it” He brushed his hand on his thigh. 

“Oh... thanks...” He mumbled, laying on his side now. “... can you take off my glasses... they're hurting my temples” He requested, closing his eyes again and sliding a hand under the pillow.

And Rhett obeyed. He pulled Link's glasses off his face and folded them carefully, leaving them on the nightstand. And when he looked back at his friend, he had his mouth open. He passed out. “... Wow. And you said you'd be fine...” Muttered Rhett, watching how peacefully his crush was sleeping in front of him.

A long while passed and the man started to feel quite drowsy too. Watching Link sleeping was relaxing and pretty contagious. Without realizing, he had fallen asleep, his head resting over his arms, still sitting on the ground. And one of his hands over Link's.

 


End file.
